UAE's Rohan Mustafa says he will miss first game of Global T20 Canada tournament after visa delay

Rohan Mustafa accepts he will miss his team’s opening game of the Global T20 Canada tournament as he and three other UAE team-mates are yet to receive their visas.

Mustafa and Mohammad Naveed are both part of the Toronto Nationals who open the tournament against Vancouver Knights on Thursday afternoon in Ontario.

But Mustafa conceded their hopes of featuring in that game are next to zero as they failed to receive their visas by Tuesday afternoon. With a 14-hour flight from Dubai to Canada, even if they receive their visas on Wednesday they face a race against time to not only make the game but shrug off the jet lag to make the field.

“I think our chances of making that first game is difficult now,” said UAE captain Mustafa. “If we get the passport tomorrow (Wednesday), there will be a flight in the evening so we can take that. But we also have to see if there will be a seat on the flight. Still there is no news from the Embassy so we don’t know what’s going on.”

UAE’s Ahmed Raza and Shaiman Anwar are also waiting to know the status of their visa application. The duo are part of the Edmonton Royals’ team which includes Shahid Afridi and Chris Lynn with the team playing the Toronto Nationals on Saturday.

Mustafa is hopeful that all four players will be in Canada for that fixture.

“If we get the visa by Thursday we can reach the Saturday game,” he said. “But if we don’t then it will be difficult because it is Friday and Saturday and offices will be shut. We will have to wait until Sunday. It’s quite frustrating but what can we do.”

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